MACON, Ga. — At our Listening Lab events over the past six weeks, we heard that the issue most important to most Central Georgia residents is crime. Four candidates are vying for the position of Bibb County’s top crime fighter.
We spoke to all four candidates in the race to share their thoughts on the issues that are most important to you.
Here is a look at one of the questions we asked candidates. To see their full responses on everything from lack of prosecution in the judicial system to why they are running for sheriff watch the videos included at the bottom of this story.
Q: If you are elected, what will be your top priority?”
Sheriff David Davis: “Certainly, staffing is one of our top priorities, we've made some significant inroads in more staffing. We've hired over 200 people over the last year and a half, part-time, full-time, civilian. That, as well as, strengthening our connection to the community, particularly, the younger people. We're seeing now a need for kids to be reached, I'm talking 4,5, and 6 years old because we're seeing 12 and 13-year-olds being involved in some very serious crimes.”
Deandre Hall: “My number one priority would be building manpower. Doing so is building the morale of the department, and implementing more hiring strategies to get more deputies in, I feel like that's one of the biggest issues that we face and if anybody was to win, they're going to continue to have the same issues if the manpower issue is not fixed. Fixing the manpower issue reduces crime, it reduces the call-response time, you can get back to community policing, you can fully staff the jail. I feel like it will clear up a lot of the issues that we see today.”
Chris Patterson: “Staffing is probably top on everybody's. Because you know, if - we've lost, the last time I checked, when we consolidated with the Macon Police Department in 2014, I believe it was 600 full-time mandated officers. The last time I checked before I retired, we were down to 225. Now that includes Sheriff Davis and his command staff. So staffing is a big thing.”
Chris Paul: “The very first we gotta do, we gotta fix morale. It's our biggest thing with our deputies - we've got to fix morale. They're burned out. We know the shortage with Macon-Bibb County, just like every other law enforcement agency, we're all short. But one of the things that we have in any organization is our people. We've gotta make sure we take care of our people by giving them the best technology, making sure they are paid for what they do, and making sure they are appreciated here in law enforcement. We know the job they go out and do every single day. We know the “defund the police” and all these things that's happening in our nation, so we've got to take care of them first. If we take care of the people, then they'll take care of us, take care of the community, make it much safer.”